"Carey, M.V. - The Three Investigators 32 - The Mystery of the Blazing Cliffs" - читать интересную книгу автора (Carey M.V)

Jupe leaned against his workbench and grinned. "First of all, Uncle Titus has been promising us a buying trip for a long time, and something has always gotten in the way."

"Yeah, like a sinister scarecrow," said Bob, remembering a buying trip that had recently been cancelled by a fiendish apparition in a corn patch. That had been one of the scariest mysteries The Three Investigators had ever solved.

"And second of all," continued Jupe, "it would be a good idea for us to get out of town right now."

Pete gaped. "Why?"

"Because of the really huge job Aunt Mathilda has for us. She wants us to scrape the rust off some old playground equipment and then paint everything. But it's not worth the effort. The metal is too badly rusted. I told her that, but she doesn't believe me. She thinks I'm just trying to get out of work."

"Which you are," said Bob.

"Well, yes," admitted Jupe. "But maybe while we're gone, Hans or Konrad will start the job and Aunt Mathilda will see it isn't worth the time and will sell the playground things for scrap metal.

"And there's a third reason for going north," added Jupe. "The Barrons are a very odd couple, and I'd like to see their place. Do they really have a ranch that's entirely self-sufficient? Do they have only old things, or do they use modern technology, too? And is Mr Barron always so angry? And Mrs Barron--does she really believe in the rescuers?"

"Rescuers?" said Pete. "Who are they?"

"A race of superbeings who will rescue us when a great disaster overtakes our planet," said Jupe.

"You're kidding!" said Bob.

"Nope," said Jupe, and his eyes sparkled with glee. "Who knows? Maybe the disaster will hit when we're at the ranch, and we'll get rescued! It could be a very interesting trip!"





2

The Fortress



IT WAS AFTER NOON the next day when Hans's brother, Konrad, set out with the larger of the two salvage-yard trucks. Mr Barron's purchases had been loaded in the back, and Jupiter, Pete, and Bob had wedged themselves in among the old stoves and the other items from Uncle Titus's stock.

"Did you find the newspaper article about Barron?" Jupiter asked Bob as the truck sped north along the Coast Highway.

Bob nodded and took several folded sheets of paper out of his pocket. "It was in the financial section of the Times four weeks ago," he reported. "I made a copy of it on the duplicating machine at the library."

He unfolded the papers. "His full name is Charles Emerson Barron," Bob said. "He's a really rich guy. He's always been rich. His father owned Barron International, the company that makes tractors and farm machinery. The Barrons owned Barronsgate, too--the town near Milwaukee where Charles Barron was born. It was an old-time company town, and everybody who lived there worked in the tractor factory and did what the Barrons told them to.

"Mr Barron inherited Barron International when he was twenty-three, and for a while everything was okay. But then the workers at Barron International went on strike for shorter hours and more money. Eventually Mr Barron had to give them what they wanted. That made him mad, so he sold the tractor factory and bought a company that made tyres. But before long the government fined his tyre factory for polluting the air. He sold that and bought a company that had some patents on photographic processes, and he got sued for discriminatory hiring practices. At different times Barron has owned newspapers and a chain of radio stations and some banks, and he has always gotten tangled up in government regulations or labour troubles or lawsuits. So finally he sold everything and moved to a ranch in a valley north of San Luis Obispo, where he lives in the house he was born in--"

"I thought he was born near Milwaukee," said Pete.

"He was. He had the house moved to California. You can do that sort of thing when you've got heaps of money, and Mr Barron sure does have heaps. He always made a profit when he sold things. They called him the Robber Barron."

"Of course," said Jupe. "He's just as high-handed as the robber-barron industrialists of the last century. What else could they call him?"